


Speak Now or Forever Hold Your Peace

by ThisIsJapaneseLunchTimeRush



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Angst, Arranged Marriage, Depression, Drama, FuriAka Week 2015, M/M, Midorima is a tsundere, Midorima tries to cook, OC, Post-Canon, Secret Relationship, Some Fluff, lots of mentioned relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-04
Updated: 2015-12-20
Packaged: 2018-05-04 22:06:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 20,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5350169
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThisIsJapaneseLunchTimeRush/pseuds/ThisIsJapaneseLunchTimeRush
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Something whooshed past his head and hit the ground hard. Jumping a foot in the air, he fumbled with his phone, record lost, heart racing, eyes wide. What the hell was that?!?!!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> As always, shoutout to my forever-beta, StarSeekerSara. 
> 
> Happy FuriAka day 2015!

Akashi burst through the door, took his phone from his pocket, and marched himself to the railing of the balcony. Without pause, he wound his arm back and hurled the phone with all of his might out into the streets below. Dangerous? Yes. Stupid? Yes. Did he care? No.

Falling to his knees, he covered his tearstained face with his hands and screamed. It was a feral scream filled with years of repressed feelings. Everything he’d held back from saying, every complaint he hadn’t voiced, every single choice that was made for him came out there in the most heart wrenching cry he’d ever heard, much less produced. 

Trembling in the cool autumn air, he wept. How had he let it come to this? How could he have allowed himself to sit back as his life fell out of his control? He felt so empty. He knew crying about it wouldn’t do him any good, but he just couldn’t stop the frustrated tears that wet his face.

 

 

Furihata sat at the bus stop, nose buried in his phone. This could be a new record for him if he just retained focus. All he needed to do was—

Something whooshed past his head and hit the ground hard. Jumping a foot in the air, he fumbled with his phone, record lost, heart racing, eyes wide. What the hell was that?!?!!

Then he heard it. A distressing howl of pain coming from somewhere above him. It paralyzed him. Was…was someone being murdered?? Had he just heard the last scream of someone’s life?! Would he have to go to the police?!?!! Should he?!?!? Maybe what they’d thrown was something important to capturing the killer.

Head whipping in the direction of the fallen object, Furihata’s eyes landed on a sleek black phone. It wasn’t any sort of phone he’d ever seen before. Amazed that it wasn’t in pieces, he got up on shaking legs and kneeled down to examine it, pocketing his own phone.

Cautiously, he poked the phone. Nothing happened, obviously.

Slowly picking it up, he noted the swipe pattern over the screen and without really thinking, he unlocked the phone. What he saw there was an open email. All it said was: _Pick one by the end of the week or I will pick one for you._ Well that was vague and threatening. Maybe he _should_ go to the police…but the sender was labeled as “Father” so maybe it was just a weird family thing?

Hitting the home button, he decided that maybe he should find out whose phone this was. Maybe it was really nothing and he was overthinking th—wait.

The background was…no way. It couldn’t be anything else but…no. Staring up at him with bright smiles was the entire Generation of Miracles (plus Kagami). This was too perfect. Fingers now less shaky, he went to the contact’s list and found Kuroko’s name. It was a bit late, but Furihata _needed_ to know which Miracle the phone belonged to. Maybe it was Kise and he was just practicing his acting with that scream? Though the blond rarely played anything besides the suave ikemen characters.

“Hello?” Kuroko answered.

“H-hey, Kuroko, it’s Furihata. I know it’s been a while since we’ve even talked but…um…” then he ran into a wall. How could he phrase this?

“Furihata-kun, what are you doing with Akashi-kun’s phone?”

The sentence hit like a punch in the face. Akashi. Of course it was Akashi. It just _had_ to be the most terrifying Miracle who screamed like a banshee and threw his indestructible phone from rooftops. Fuck. Well, at least now he could pawn this onto Kuroko and he wouldn’t have to deal with it.

“Furihata-kun, are you still there?”

“Y-yeah. Um…c-could you maybe…” No, that was a stupid way to begin that. “I-if I dropped this by your place, could you get it to him, or…?”

“My apologies, Furihata-kun, but me and Taiga are nowhere near Toyko right now. I could give you his address, though.”

The brunet paused. What if Akashi was actually in trouble? He wouldn’t want to _not_ check up on him and find out the next morning that the redhead had bled to death in his apartment because nobody had done anything and he’d—

“Are you still there?” Kuroko asked.

He chided himself for watching way too many crime dramas, shaking his head to clear it of the strange murder thoughts. Nobody was (probably) being murdered…but that didn’t mean they weren’t in trouble. “Y-yeah. Y-yeah. Could you give me his address? I’ll…go return it right now.”

 

 

Furihata could not believe he was doing this. _Why_ had he talked himself into this? He was nervous enough having to _see_ Akashi again, let alone having to interact. And of course when he got to the building—which was super huge and filled with apartments that Furihata couldn’t afford with fifty lifetimes of saving every penny he made—the doorman called Akashi. He stood there awkwardly as the stoic man addressed Akashi as though he were a prince. Close enough, though.

When the doorman hung up the fancy—was that real gold??—phone, he nodded and said, “Akashi-san will see you. Right this way.” He followed the doorman to an extravagant elevator that was playing light classical music. He got into the elevator, but the doorman didn’t. He just swiped a card and left.

“W-wait , which number is it?” he asked, panicked. All he saw before the door closed was the doorman chuckling to himself. Okay…he’d accidentally stumbled into Wonderland. Except this wonderland was basically made of gold and money. He was _so_ far from his comfort zone right now. All he could do was grip the hem of his jacket and hope that Akashi didn’t kill him…or that Akashi’s _killer_ didn’t kill him.

The elevator stopped and when the door opened, he was greeted with darkness. Okay, he was definitely going to be murdered. He couldn’t see a thing besides the city lights outside the huge windows.

“Come in.”

Okay, that did _not_ sound like the Akashi he remembered. He remembered a tyrant. An Emperor so terrifying he—wait was that a sniffle?? The elevator door began closing, so he stumbled out fast, tripping in the process and falling face first onto the floor.

A breathy laugh sounded fairly close to him, followed by another sniffle. Okay, either Akashi was sick or Furihata was going crazy, because that sounded like the choked sort of sniffle one has when they’re crying. Akashi _couldn’t_ be crying….could he? “You okay?” came the soft question.

“A-are _you_?” he echoed, sitting up. “I…uh….I heard you scream and…” Okay, no, that was too awkward a sentence to even finish.

A heavy silence fell over them, only interrupted by Akashi’s occasional sniffles. Furihata’s eyes got some time to adjust to the darkness, though, and he was able to make out a bundled up figure on the couch nearby. The apartment was huge. Way too big for one person.

Finally, a heavy sigh cut through the quiet. “No. I’m not okay.”

“Oh,” was all he could manage to respond with. Fuck! What was he supposed to do?! Akashi wasn’t okay! “C-can I help somehow? Are you hurt?” he asked frantically.

“No,” came the soft reply.

Wait. No to which question? Was he not hurt or was he so hurt that there was nothing Furihata could do? Furihata wished he could see better, but if he pulled out a light, he’d just blind the both of them instead.

The only thing that came to the brunet’s mind was lame, but it was the only thing he had, so he went with it. Carefully, he situated himself on the other end of the couch from Akashi. “D-do you want to talk about it?”

The pause that followed was tense, but he didn’t dare move. Akashi spoke softly, trying to keep the tremble from his words. “I’m getting married.”

Okay, that wasn’t so bad, was it? “C-congratulations?” Furihata offered.

“Not by choice.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah.” Akashi shifted, pulling the blanket he was wrapped in tighter around himself, “I don’t even know _who_ I’m marrying yet, but it apparently _has_ to be soon. I have a week to pick which unlucky lady I get to be miserable with for the rest of my life.”

“M-maybe you’ll find someone you like?” Furihata suggested lamely. He was so bad at this. Why hadn’t he just slid Akashi’s phone out of the elevator and went home?

“There isn’t a woman in the world that I’d have any interest in romantically.”

Furihata nodded, “S-so you’re…gay?”

“Indeed.”

“D-d-does your father know?”

Scoffing, Akashi wiped at his tears and said, “Of course not. An Akashi is supposed to marry and produce heirs. My personal feelings aren’t supposed to play any part in it.”

“C-c-couldn’t you just…adopt? M-maybe get a surrogate, or—“

“And tell my very traditional and closed-minded father that I prefer the company of men? Don’t be absurd, he’d disown me on the spot.”

That didn’t really make sense. “But…you’re old enough to make your own decisions, he can’t _dis_ own you if he doesn’t…own you? That came out weird. But you’re not a dependent. You have a company, a huge apartment…” he wasn’t even sure if he was making sense. It definitely made sense in his head, but he could _feel_ the judging stare that Akashi was giving him.

“I’ve never in my life made my own choices. I…” his voice becoming more choked, Akashi curled further into the blankets and mumbled, “I don’t know how.”

Well that was…absurd. With as much power as Akashi had, it made no sense that he didn’t know how to make choices. He had an incredibly successful company. The man could probably say he owns the world and people wouldn’t question it.

A stifled sob broke Furihata from his head. Okay, this was _not_ the time for this. Akashi needed support here, not people questioning his life. Steeling himself for the worst, Furihata did what always made him feel better when he was down. He’d probably die for it, but he couldn’t think of anything else and inaction would probably kill him just the same.

Scooting over, he sat down next to Akashi and hugged the man wrapped in his pile of blankets. Surprisingly, Akashi didn’t kill him. Instead of pulling out scissors and stabbing Furihata through the eye, the redhead fell into his arms and openly wept. The scene made Furihata’s chest clench in sympathy. Not like he could realistically do anything to help, but he wanted to. Seeing Akashi so broken…a man who Furihata believed to be on top of the world…it didn’t sit right with him. Everything about this was just wrong and it made him sad.

He let Akashi weep, pulling the redhead tighter into his arms. He really wasn’t sure what to do, so he sat there gently rocking the billionaire and just being there. He’d say something, but he’d never been very good with words, so that seemed like a horrible idea. He’d probably say something wrong and Akashi would get angry and he’d die.

Though…seeing the redhead like this, Furihata did have to admit to himself that it maybe knocked Akashi down _just slightly_ from godhood. He was human. That hit as much more of a shock than it should have. Of course he was human…he’d just never seemed like one before.

Furihata wasn’t even sure how much time passed before Akashi spoke. He’d gotten so comfortable with the redhead in his arms that he’d almost forgotten how weird the situation was. And then Akashi moved just far enough for them to face one another and whispered, “Will you stay?”

Without even thinking about it, Furihata said, “Yeah, I’ll stay.” Was that a stupid thing to say? Absolutely, but the part of his brain that said it was a bad idea was completely ignored.

And then magic happened.

No, seriously. Magic. Because there was no other explanation for what happened next. Furihata looked into Akashi’s gorgeous eyes, glinting maroon in the dark, and with no conscious thought, he leaned in and kissed Akashi.

Yeah. Magic.

And the most outrageous part was that Akashi didn’t balk at him or stab him where he sat. No, Akashi shakily reached up, took Furihata’s face in his hands, and _kissed back._ And with even more magic, a spark ignited between them and their sweet kiss took on a life of its own and went wild.

Neither Furihata nor Akashi even paused or thought about what was happening, they just let it. The feel of Akashi in Furihata’s arms just felt right. It was absurd, but he never wanted to let go. Sure, it wasn’t the best kiss of the brunet’s life, but it was the most perfect one. Akashi’s face was wet with tears and the angle they were situated at was awkward, but it didn’t stop them.

Without disrupting their impromptu make-out session, Akashi situated himself in Furihata’s lap and any ember of hesitation in Furihata’s brain was snuffed out. This is what he’d been missing all of his life. Funny how in the course of a few hours he’d gone from hoping to never see Akashi again to hoping the redhead never left his arms.

 

 

Waking up, Furihata pouted at the lack of warm body next to him. Grumbling to himself, he rubbed the sleep from his eyes and looked at the huge bed he was in. Akashi was gone, but there was a note waiting for him.

Before a smile could form at how cute it was for Akashi to leave a note, his brain suddenly kicked him for being an idiot as he recalled what happened. He couldn’t believe it. He’d slept with Akashi Seijuro. _The_ Akashi Seijuro. The Emperor, billionaire, charming and terrifying in equal amounts, Akashi Seijuro. What was _wrong_ with him??? If he weren’t still naked and in the redhead’s bed, he’d probably dismiss it as a dream. But nope, there he was.

And he wasn’t even drunk. He’d heard of things like this before. Heck, even Kise and Aomine began a relationship because they’d gotten drunk and slept together. No, he’d been fully sober and completely aware of what a bad idea it was…and he really couldn’t make himself believe that. Sure, it wasn’t a _good_ idea, but damn did he not regret it. Sort of.

He really wasn’t sure what to think. His arms already missed the feel of the redhead’s skin, but…maybe Akashi hadn’t felt the same? Maybe it had just been something completely random and stupid and…

Oh shit.

Realization dawned on him like a tidal wave. He’d _used_ Akashi. The redhead had been in no emotional state to give a concrete yes or no. He’d probably just gone with it because it was happening and maybe he’d been too emotionally drained to refuse and—

And Akashi totally didn’t even know him. They were strangers. This wasn’t fate that had brought them together, it had been desperation and horniness and this had definitely been a one night stand and would never be repeated again.

Dejected, Furihata crawled over and read the note.

_‘My sincerest apologies. I was called into work and did not want to wake you. I have instructed one of my drivers to take you home. There is breakfast in the refrigerator, help yourself. If you need to borrow clothes, please do so, though I would appreciate it if you did not take any of the suits._

_Yours,_

_Akashi Seijuro’_

Okay. So Akashi wanted him gone. That he could do.

Grabbing his clothes from the floor, Furihata got dressed and left. When the doorman insisted the car was waiting for him, Furihata just waved it off and took the bus. He’d already taken advantage of Akashi, he didn’t want to add to that by taking his car and food.


	2. Chapter 2

Getting off of work, Furihata made his way home slowly in a zombie-like state. He’d been so tired all day, his brain not able to comprehend anything besides _Holy shit I slept with Akashi Seijuro._

His life didn’t make any sense anymore. He’d thought he had it figured out pretty well. He had an alright job that he liked, he’d been happily single, hanging out with his friends, still playing basketball on the weekends…now everything felt wrong. There was a hole in his life that he’d just come to realize was there. Akashi had filled it for a night, but now he was back in the real world and he felt incomplete. Things he’d been sure of were now wavering. He needed a drink, but he didn’t want to be with anyone. He just wanted to curl up, get drunk, and watch sad movies.

Unfortunately, as soon as he got home, his desire to walk all the way to the kitchen faded. Maybe just laying down on the couch and taking a nap would do…or just lying there until the ground swallowed him up. That could work too.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door and his brain wasn’t really sure if it was awake or asleep, making him get up and trudge to answer the knocking.

And of course, as soon as he opened the door, his brain decided that it wasn’t sleepy at all anymore as he stumbled back and hit the small table on which he kept his keys in a nice bowl his mom had given him. And of course the bowl hit the ground hard and shattered, but that didn’t matter to him one bit.

Akashi—dressed in a really nice gray suit that emphasized his phenomenal body—bowed and said, “Excuse me for coming unannounced, Furihata-san, but I would like to talk to you about what happened between us and doing it over the phone seemed unacceptable.”

Furihata made a weird squeaking sound and nodded. _Holy crap Akashi knew his name!_ He then attempted to move aside to let Akashi through, but the redhead reached out with lightning speed and pulled the brunet into his arms. That elicited another awkward squeak as every sense in Furihata’s body begged Akashi not to let go.

“Careful, you wouldn’t want to hurt yourself,” Akashi said, stepping back and indicating to the broken bowl on the ground.

“R-right,” Furihata managed to say, scurrying into his kitchen to grab something to clean the bowl up with.

He quickly swept everything up and as he got up to throw it away, Akashi said, “Don’t forget your keys.” The brunet gave the redhead a questioning look and Akashi pointed to the dustpan and Furihata realized he’d swept his keys up too.

“T-thank you. C-c-come in. Uh…I uh…d-don’t have much and it’s not really clean or anything, but…yeah.”

Akashi nodded and Furihata scrambled away into the kitchen. Anything to _not_ face the man he’d taken advantage of. At least Akashi seemed better. His eyes were a little red, but that might have been because of the lack of sleep.

From the kitchen, Furihata called, “W-would you like some coffee? Tea? Beer? Snacks?”

“Tea will do just fine, thank you,” Akashi said back, his voice clearly ringing from the living room. It was like he didn’t have to _try_ to be heard, he just was. Add that to the giant list of amazing qualities about him.

Furihata set the water to boil and busied himself with making tea, trying _not_ to think about what had happened…and how much he wished it could happen again, which just invited guilt to stab at him.

He’d never made tea faster in his life. He didn’t want to face Akashi, but he didn’t want to keep him waiting either. As a company owner (or whatever his official title was) his time was probably way more valuable than Furihata’s entire life.

“Uh…I d-don’t really have any snacks…” he mumbled, setting the tray with their tea down. It would probably be the worst tea Akashi had ever had, but Furihata really had nothing better.

“It’s fine, please, sit down, I…” Okay, so Akashi wasn’t entirely better, judging by the awkward pause. “I came to apologize.”

Furihata felt the world stop. “W-what?!” He hadn’t meant to shout, but that was just ridiculous. “Y-you have nothing to apologize for! _I_ should be the one apologizing! I used you!”

Akashi blinked. “I believe _I_ was the one who used _you_.”

“N-no way, y-y-you were emotionally compromised and…”

Frowning, Akashi said, “Then it seems we have come to a stalemate, because I sincerely believe that I took advantage of your kindness.”

Furhata slumped into the couch and frowned down at his hands. He’d hoped Akashi would never want to see him again so he wouldn’t have to face the redhead, but now that they were actually there…he wasn’t sure what to feel. Relief that Akashi didn’t think he’d been used? Guilt that Akashi thought he’d used _him?_ He really just felt empty. Life didn’t make any sense anymore.

Akashi sighed and said, “I…also wanted to thank you for helping me through that. I cannot begin to express my gratitude for your comfort.”

“I r-really didn’t—“

Akashi’s eyes cut him off then. The grateful and _vulnerable_ look in them stopped him in his tracks. Akashi _actually meant this._ That in itself was enough to send a blush to the brunet’s cheeks. “Besides conveying my gratitude, I…wanted to tell you that I told my father about my preferences.”

Eyes wide, Furihata asked, “A-a-and?”

Looking down at his hands, Akashi said, “He still expects me to marry a woman and produce heirs, but at least now he knows I’ll be miserable my whole life.”

“Oh…I’m sorry if—“

“No, don’t be. I feel better having told him now. He didn’t take it well, but it is a weight off of my chest that I hadn’t realized was there. Which brings me to another thing I want to thank you for. I’m sure if anyone else had found my phone, they would have sold it and a great deal of my life would be exposed to the public. But you didn’t do that. You didn’t even drop it in the mailbox, you actually came.”

“D-d-don’t be too impressed, I just…j-just wanted to make sure you weren’t dying or anything. It was completely selfish of me to go and check on you so I wouldn’t have any guilt on my conscience.”

“If that is what you consider being selfish, then you are a far better person than most.”

Furihata wanted to argue that, but before he could, Akashi’s phone rang. The redhead took it from his pocket and frowned. He rejected the call, but sent a text and while he hit away at his phone, Furihata took a sip of his own tea. It was bad even by _his_ standards.

Sighing, Akashi said, “It seems I am needed elsewhere.”

Furihata nodded. Of course someone as busy as Akashi had better things to do than hang out with a basically poor boring guy. Still, as Akashi got up, he stood too and spluttered, “I-if y-you ever need to just…talk or something…I’ll listen, so…” That fell apart fast.

Akashi smiled (but Furihata wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not) and said, “Thank you. That…really means a lot to me.”

Okay. Definitely a good thing. The gentleness in those usually fierce red eyes melted Furihata’s insides. He wished he could just grab Akashi and somehow keep this moment forever. Just this small moment of the two of them together, out of the view of the rest of the world.

And then the moment was broken and Akashi left.

 

 

Four days later, Furihata was brought out of his Sherlock marathon by another knock on his door. When he opened it, he found Akashi standing there, dressed in a casual gray sweater and jeans…and he somehow made it look like something royalty would wear.

The redhead apologized for coming unannounced, but Furihata made sure he knew it wasn’t a big deal. Not like the brunet was actually doing anything important. It was Sunday, he never did anything important on Sundays.

They sat down and Furihata could tell there was something Akashi wanted to say, so he prompted, “So, what brings you to my tiny place today?”

Akashi looked down at his hands and said, “I’m…officially engaged.”

“Oh,” was all that Furihata could articulate. That felt like a punch in the face, even if he saw it coming.

“It’ll be all over the news tomorrow, so…yeah…at least she understands that I have no interest in her. She did say I have all the freedom I want once we’re married, so long as I’m discreet. She promised to keep her own lover hidden from the world, but…it really doesn’t make it easier.” Shifting awkwardly in his seat, Akashi said, “I know you’re not my psychologist. I apologize for dumping my emotional load onto you.”

“No, don’t apologize. It’s better to let it out.” There was a very poorly veiled sexual reference here that Furihata tried his best not to think about.

“Then…” Slumping into the couch, Akashi heaved a heavy sigh, “We’re supposed to get married in just a few months, then expected to have kids. Neither one of us is excited for that one. I feel as though it is irresponsible to bring a child into the world if you have no interest in raising it, much less the time to actually do that.”

“Yeah, that’s definitely not a good environment for a child,” Furihata nodded. He couldn’t even imagine being forced to have kids. That just…sounded so _wrong_. Akashi’s dad made no sense. Why Akashi went with any of this was beyond him, but he figured that was a rich people thing. Nobody cared what or who poor people did.

“Is it…would it be weird if I asked to stay here for a while? I…don’t want to be alone right now,” Akashi said.

“Well, I just started this episode…would you like to watch with me? I can go back to the beginning.”

“Thank you.”

 

 

Five episodes (basically the entire show) of Sherlock later, they sat on Furihata’s couch, legs tangled together, popcorn randomly strewn about the place from their popcorn fight…which Akashi had won without much contest, but Furihata had tried his best.

“This was a surprisingly good show,” Akashi remarked as the credits rolled on the last episode. “I haven’t seen any television show I actually liked in a long time.”

“Well I’m glad you liked it. Prepare to wait ten years for the next episode.”

“Ugh, I don’t want to wait that long. Maybe they take bribes,” Akashi nodded thoughtfully.

“Pff, no way,” he smacked Akashi lightly with one of the throw pillows.

They sat there smiling at one another for a moment before Furihata’s eyes wandered down to Akashi’s lips and suddenly the sexual tension that had grown into a background noise between them became deafening. Akashi saw the small shiver that ran up the brunet’s back and contemplated the consequences of closing the space between them entirely. But he didn’t. Clearing his throat, he sat back and looked away, “I uh…I should go.”

“Stay?” Furihata whispered, biting his lip in a way that made Akashi crazy.

He was so _so_ tempted, but… “I can’t. I’m meeting my future parents-in-law tomorrow for lunch.”

“Right,” Furihata nodded, dejected. He knew he shouldn’t be disappointed. It made no sense to be. Akashi was _engaged._ There was no future for the two of them…but it didn’t stop him from wanting one.

 

 

By the time he got to work on Monday, he knew everything about Akashi’s engagement. It numbed him entirely. Seeing the redhead (clearly not happy) with the gorgeous woman holding his hand and faking a professional smile…it stung.

The girl was seriously one of the most beautiful people Furihata had ever seen. She was poised and confident and completely professional. Her dark hair was done up in a nice tight bun and her eyes were a clear stormy gray. Even with her being so pretty, Akashi still stole the show. The dark gray suit he wore fit him so perfectly and even with the clear discomfort between the two of them, he looked as though he owned the world. 

Furihata’s mind wandered and he sat at his work desk thinking about what it would be like to be the one standing next to Akashi. That was a ridiculous thought, of course, they _barely_ knew each other…but he could imagine it so clearly that it was hard not to think about. His parents would probably cry if they knew he was pining after a man who was literally about to get married.

 

 

“Furi!”

He reacted too slow to catch the rebound coming straight at his face. The impact brought him right out of his Akashi-centered daydreams and back to the outdoor court he was on. “Oooowwww,” he whined rubbing his forehead.

“You’ve been so out of it lately, what’s with you?” Kawahara asked, running over. “You okay?”

Nodding, he said, “Yeah, yeah, fine.”

“You’re a horrible liar,” Fukuda said, dribbling the ball absently and walking over to them. “What’s up?”

Furihata contemplated trying to lie, but that wouldn’t do. “I…I can’t tell you guys, I’m sorry.”

Narrowing his eyes, Kawahara said, “Seriously? We’ve been friends for _years._ What _can’t_ you tell us?”

How would one even go about saying something as ridiculous as _I slept with Akashi Seijuro?_ There was no way he could tell them. He’d probably pass out before he completed that sentence anyway. Saying it out loud was just not possible. “I r-really can’t. I’m sorry.”

Jokingly, Fukuda nudged him and said, “I bet Kuroko could make him tell.”

Nope. Kuroko was the absolute _last_ person he wanted to see. If he questioned what happened between him and Akashi…Furihata knew those cold blue eyes could make him spill his deepest darkest secret. He wasn’t ready for that.

Seeing no better way out of this, Furihata did the most childish and immature thing possible. He turned, grabbed his stuff, and ran home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who commented and left kudos and just read this! You guys bring happiness to my life and put smiles on my face c:
> 
> Chapter 3 should be up in 2 days or so (if I don't lose my mind before then).


	3. Chapter 3

Furihata sat on his couch, staring down at the gorgeous white and red paper with gold accents. The whole thing was more extravagant than every fancy thing Furihata had seen in his entire life combined. This was it. An invitation to Akashi’s wedding. It came with a hand-written note from Akashi telling him he had no obligation to come, but that the redhead would feel better having him there.

It had been almost a month since he’d last seen Akashi face to face. He thought the redhead had moved on with his life and forgotten him. But no. That was too much to hope for. Akashi hadn’t found happiness with his gorgeous French lady—because by now, Furihata knew pretty much everything about her life.

Or, he felt like he did. Every small development in the planning of the wedding—every _single_ outing of the couple was televised. And he couldn’t make himself _not_ watch it. Akashi got better at pretending to be happy, though sometimes Furihata could swear one of his eyes was not a pleasant magenta-red. He definitely remembered Other-Akashi from high school with his golden eye and authoritative vibe. He was the last person Furihata wanted to see. If he was back, it meant Akashi was in serious trouble.

Still…he really didn’t want to go to the wedding of a man he couldn’t stop thinking about. Besides, how would he explain being there to Kuroko, who was the best man and would definitely notice him? Also, the wedding was in just over a month and would probably be packed with people so much more important than him that it really just didn’t make sense to go.

But…Akashi had asked him to go and…could he really abandon the redhead like that?

Yes. Yes he could. He was a coward through and through and the most cowardly thing to do would be sit at home that day and drown his feelings in booze, hopefully never seeing Akashi again.

 

 

Akashi sat there, mouth shut, calm smile plastered onto his face. He didn’t care one bit what sort of flowers they had at their wedding. But, he had to pretend. Go with it like he’d gone with everything else in his life.

They were weeks away from the wedding and everything was moving way too fast. He had too much work piling up on top of all this wedding planning to go see the one person who seemed to make this whole process easier: Furihata Kouki.

The mouse-haired man was all over Akashi’s mind. With him, Akashi didn’t need to pretend to be anyone else. He could just be himself and the brunet accepted that. It was strange and a bit terrifying how close he felt to Furihata, even if they’d only met a few times.

“Yes, I believe that could work,” he found himself saying. _You weren’t paying attention. You’re welcome,_ his brother said.

_Sorry. Thank you._

_You need to let him go, there’s no way for us to end up with him._

_Shut up, one of us needs to be paying attention,_ Akashi said stubbornly, forcing his mind to focus on the different flower arrangements.

 

 

Rolling the divider between them and the driver up, his fiancée said, “Seijuro, you are too distracted. I told you, this between us is nothing but a business deal. You need to focus and separate this from whatever personal drama is happening, okay?”

He did _not_ want to be called out by her, but it was nice that she knew there was nothing between them. “Apologies, Estelle,” he said, really not in the mood for this.

“If you need to, go to your lover and release whatever stress you have. I told you, so long as you are subtle with your encounters, there is no problem between us.”

“I can’t. I still have my company to run on top of all this.”

“And you think I’m not busy with my own business? You must make time for yourself,” Estelle said, waving him off.

She didn’t know how complicated this was. To her, it was simple. Their marriage meant nothing. To him, it felt like the end of his life. At least Estelle had an interest in men, Akashi had no interest in women.

“Also, about the baby we are expected to have—“ Akashi barely stopped himself from choking on his own spit. That was something he did _not_ want to talk about. “—I have no interest in spending months as an incapacitated balloon. I suggest a surrogate.”

Oh. Okay. “Y-yeah. That…sounds like a good idea.” That he could do.

“And about your bachelor party, if you drink, keep it minimal. I plan to only have a few of my friends together with some wine. If you have a party, make sure it is controlled.”

“I don’t plan on partying,” Akashi said dryly.

The car stopped outside of her apartment and Estelle said, “Well, I will see you soon.”

 

 

Akashi could not bring himself to pay attention. Every single dress was beginning to look exactly the same. He’d been dragged to shop for bridesmaids dresses. It surprised him how many people Estelle had roped together on such short notice, so he’d been forced to call upon the Miracles to fill the groomsmen spots, along with a few of his teammates from Rakuzan.

The men (most of whom were too busy to come) had breezed through picking a suit. Kise was the only picky one, so everyone just went along with his choice. The blond had a great eye, so they all trusted his judgement. Now Akashi was forced to sit on an uncomfortable couch as girls he didn’t know (except for Momoi) paraded around in different red dresses.

Momoi had made sure he didn’t leave. Kise made Aomine stay for her sake too, and Akashi had dragged Kuroko to stay, getting Kagami as a package deal. At least he wasn’t alone. Murasakibara and Midorima, along with their respective boyfriends had been too busy to come and his Rakuzan teammates had left as soon as they could, some actually being busy, others just not wanting to stay.

“What do you think, Seijuro?” Estelle said.

He really needed to stop being caught off-guard. He shot a quick pleading look to Kise, who thankfully caught on. The blond jumped and said, “I love the rose on the shoulder! Also, having the sleeves should accommodate more body types. Plus, that cinched waist is perfect!”

“Thanks, Ki-chan,” Momoi giggled.

The blond exaggeratedly winked at her and said, “I’ve got ya!” That got some of the other bridesmaids squeeing and Akashi sighed and really just wanted this to be over. Momoi had had an uphill battle convincing the other girls that strapless dresses would not work. Thankfully her and Kise had been able to win that one on their own, because Akashi could see things falling apart if he’d gotten involved.

Most of the bridesmaids didn’t entirely like him. Or…that’s the feeling he got. Sure, they’d fawned over how good a catch he was, but they also gave him cold looks every once in a while. Maybe they knew about Estelle’s secret lover and thought Akashi would get in the way of that? He had no idea, but he really didn’t care what Estelle did. Sure, she was a perfectly fine person and he didn’t hate her or anything…but there was no connection between them whatsoever. They weren’t even friends. Just acquaintances…getting married.

 

 

“Akashi-kun, may we speak to you for a moment,” Kuroko asked at the end of the appointment once they’d finally picked the dresses and all the ladies were measured and whatever else had gone on that Akashi had missed. It was already evening, not a day well spent.

“Of course,” he responded, eyes slightly narrowing. Kuroko had his usual poker-face on, but Momoi and Kise both looked sad.

“Seijuro?” Estelle asked, giving him a questioning look.

“Go on, we’ll meet you all at the restaurant,” he said, giving her a polite smile. She left with the others for the restaurant next door as Kise and Momoi led him to a secluded corner of the shop. “What is it?” he asked.

“Akashicchi…you don’t _have_ to do this, you know. Nobody will think less of you if you call all this off right now, so please don’t do this to yourself,” Kise began.

“What Ki-chan means is that you shouldn’t marry out of obligation. You should marry who you love. The world will understand, I promise, so—“

“I appreciate the worry, you two, but I can handle myself,” Akashi said defensively.

“But Akashicchi, you don’t love her!”

“Keep it down, Ryouta,” Akashi shot him a warning look. If this was overheard, it could ruin everything.

“But you _can’t_ marry someone you don’t love! I couldn’t imagine marrying anyone other than Aominecchi because I love him with all my heart!”

“You’re not married,” Akashi pointed out.

“Yes, but I couldn’t marry anyone else, so—“

“Look, I really appreciate what you’re trying to do, but—“

“Please, Akashicchi!”

“Akashi-kun,” Kuroko said. Akashi had almost forgotten he was there, so it was rather surprising for him to speak up. “Your father will not approve of this, but this marriage cannot happen. You are a grown man who can make his own choices. The business is yours. Most of your business partners are open-minded people, and even if they aren’t, they won’t want to lose you as a partner. There is no reason not to call this off before it is too late.”

Akashi wanted to slap him. Just to see if his poker face would change. “This subject is not up for debate,” he said, breathing more deeply to keep his frustration hidden.

“We can’t just leave it like this, Akashi-kun! We can’t sit back and watch you suffer!” Momoi said, tears pooling at the corners of her eyes.

“You don’t get a choice in this matter,” Akashi said, maybe a bit too harshly.

“Akashicchi, please at least talk to us! Maybe we can help you if you just open up and—“

He lost it. Eye sparking into a warning gold, his brother said in a completely neutral tone, “And where were you to help him in middle school, I wonder? You don’t understand anything going on here and that is by choice. Your jobs are to smile and look pretty when this wedding happens. Now,” he took his wallet out and slapped a bundle of cash into Kuroko’s hands, “Pay for dinner, I’m taking my brother somewhere he doesn’t feel judged.”

_Where are we going?_ Akashi asked.

_You know where,_ his brother responded.

 

 

Furihata opened the door in a pair of sweatpants and a dingy t-shirt. “Hello, Furihata-kun, are you busy?” Akashi asked.

“Uh…No, I’m not busy. I w-was just going to do some laundr—mmph!”

Akashi cut him off by shutting the door and pressing their lips together. “If you want me to leave, just say so,” Akashi whispered, already working on the buttons of his shirt.

Furihata shook his head, “D-don’t leave.” The brunet seemed to finally catch up with what was happening and in a clumsy frenzy, began helping Akashi pull his shirt off.

 

 

Akashi leaned against the kitchen counter and asked, “Need any help in here?”

Furihata gave him an adorable smile and said, “No, it’s fine.”

Watching Furihata cooking, wearing nothing but sweatpants and an apron, Akashi couldn’t help the huge smile on his face. None of this made sense. His life was spinning wildly out of control, but right here in this tiny apartment with the brunet he barely knew, he felt more at home than he had ever before.

“I know our relationship or…whatever it is, is…backwards and complicated, but…would it be too much to ask you to call me Kouki?” the brunet asked, cheeks dusted pink, eyes pointedly on the task in front of him.

Walking behind Furihata, Akashi wrapped his arms around the brunet’s waist and rested his chin on his shoulder, “Only if you call me Seijuro.”

Furihata beamed. Giving Akashi a kiss on the cheek, he said, “Okay…Sei.”

Akashi melted at the words. He’d never been more happy to be called by his first name. Coming from Furihata, it just felt perfect. “Kouki,” he said, testing the name. It sent butterflies through his stomach. If the brunet hadn’t been cooking, Akashi would have gone in for round two right there.

 

 

They ate some fantastic omurice, watched about ten minutes of some show Furihata said was good, then went back to the brunet’s bed and proceeded to have lazy evening sex.

Lying around afterwards, they talked. Just about trivial things. Favorite food, favorite color, how they felt about certain scenes in Sherlock, literally anything and everything. It was strange, but Akashi wouldn’t want to be anywhere else in the world besides right there in the brunet’s slightly-too-small bed.

After listening to Furihata talk about what it was like growing up with an older brother, the brunet’s landline rang. “Who’s calling so late?” the brunet grumbled, making no move to go get it.

The answering machine beeped and suddenly a very loud, _“HAPPY BIRTHDAY!”_ sounded. “ _Hey Furi, thought we’d be obnoxious and call right at midnight!”_ Fukuda laughed.

_“We got you a cake, but we kinda ate it, so…happy birthday!”_ Kawahara giggled. Of course they were drunk. Someone clearly dropped the phone and the machine cut them off before they could pull it together.

“Ugh, they’re insufferable,” Furihata grumbled, burying his head in his pillow.

Akashi leaned in and whispered, “Happy birthday, Kouki,” tracing circles on the brunet’s back.

Furihata turned and gave Akashi a kiss. “When’s _your_ birthday?” Akashi paused. That was a good question. “You don’t remember?”

“My father believed in celebrating accomplishments, not anniversaries. I know it’s in December…twentieth? I think.”

“You’re adorable,” Furihata chuckled. “I wish we had become friends in high school,” the brunet mused.

Akashi imagined how much more beautiful his life would have been if that had happened. Maybe with the brunet at his side, he could have prevented his life from spiraling so far out of his control. “Yeah. That would be wonderful.” Giving the brunet a soft kiss, he said, “Doesn’t mean we can’t make up for lost time.”

He knew it was a stupid idea to encourage this relationship…but he couldn’t help it. He didn’t want to imagine not having the brunet in his life. Besides, they were both guys, so even if they were seen together, it would be interpreted differently than if Estelle and her lover were seen. But did he really want to keep the brunet secret? The answer was no, but it wasn’t like he had the option to just flaunt this relatively poor and average—by anyone else’s standards—man to the rest of the world.

“You up for another round?” Akashi asked. He knew he should be leaving, but he really just didn’t want to.

Furihata smiled brightly, “I think I can manage.”

 

 

Yawning, Furihata walked into work groggily. As he walked through the door to the army of cubicles, he was stunned by a loud roar of, “SURPRISE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, FURIHATA-KUN!”

His sleepy brain was completely thrown for a loop. “What?”

“We totally got you with the whole cake thing, didn’t we?” Kawahara laughed, throwing an arm around his shoulders.

“Wha…?”

“Ooh, wait, did we interrupt you?” Fukuda asked, staring down at Furihata’s neck.

“What?!” Furihata spluttered.

“That’s a big hickey,” one of the other office members commented.

Oh god why??? He hadn’t thought this through!! Suddenly very awake, he buried his face in his hands.

“So, who was it?!” Kawahara asked, nudging him.

Face exploding red, Furihata grumbled, “Please don’t ask.”

“Come have cake!” one of his other office friends said, pulling him out of the awkwardness. He couldn’t thank her enough.

 

 

“Kise, I need your help,” Akashi said frantically.

“What? What is it?! Are you okay?!” the blond responded through the phone.

“Are you free right now?”

“Are you home? I’ll be there in ten!”

Akashi paced back and forth in his room, clothes thrown about the place haphazardly. It had taken him about fifteen minutes before he’d come to the conclusion that he needed professional help.

The elevator let Kise in and the blond wandered towards Akashi calling him in. The redhead opened the door to what was most likely his room partway and peered at the blond. “Akashicchi, what’s wrong?!” Kise asked, panting. “Let me through, whatever it is, I can help!”

“You’re not allowed to ask who did this or make any judgements, are we clear?”

“Yes, now what’s wrong?!”

Opening the door, cheeks tinted pink, Akashi said calmly, “I’m sure being with Aomine, you have experience in this field, so…” He didn’t think this would be hard, but it was. “How does one cover up a hickey?”

Kise’s eyes widened in shock as his jaw dropped. “Whoa! I mean…w-wh…but now I need to know!” the pouted, walking into the mess of a room.

Akashi shut the door and said, “I don’t have time for this. None of my collared shirts cover it. I need your help.”

Straightening up, Kise nodded, “Right. Let’s see what you have.”

 

 

Ten minutes later, Akashi stood in his bedroom, looking at himself in the mirror. It wasn’t necessarily bad, but… “I look like fancy Steve Jobs,” Akashi commented dryly. He was in a light blue turtleneck with a dark gray blazer. At least it was cold out, so he could justify the fashion choice.

“Hey, you refused the makeup!” Kise whined. “And I think you look good!”

Sighing, Akashi looked at his watch and said, “It’ll have to do. Do you need a ride?”

“Nope. But I really want to know who you were with.”

“I’m not telling you. And if you so much as breathe a word of what happened here to anybody, I will make sure your body is never found, do you understand?” He didn’t mean it, but he needed Kise to know that this was no laughing matter.

The blond nodded, “Yes!”

“Good. Let’s go. Work awaits.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry you guys, this chapter was supposed to be updated like two days ago, but finals suck, so...yeah. 
> 
> Chapters should be coming more regularly from now on (hopefully). 
> 
> Thank you to everyone who's commenting (your comments keep me writing) and to everyone who left kudos and just read this.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Everything is lovely for our happy couple...and now shit hits the fan.

Furihata wasn’t expecting them to just suddenly begin a perfect lovey-dovey relationship…that said, it still hurt when he saw news of the “happy power couple” enjoying their wedding planning. Of course Akashi was still going through with this. Furihata knew he was probably more of a distraction for the millionaire (or was he a billionaire? Furihata didn’t know) than anything…but he thought they’d made a connection. He shouldn’t have gotten his hopes up.

The thing was, Akashi texted him. They weren’t completely cut-off or anything. It was weird. The redhead would text him randomly, occasionally drop by, and look worse and worse each time.

This was clearly not good for Akashi’s health. The redhead had started wearing makeup to cover the dark circles under his eyes and just watching him on TV, Furihata could tell he was exhausted. The texts and conversations they were exchanging were becoming less and less coherent on Akashi’s part. He was trying to justify things and Furihata began feeling more like a therapist than a friend. But he let Akashi unload his worries without judgement.

The whole situation left Furihata in a strange state of limbo. He didn’t know what to feel, so he felt nothing and everything at the same time. Everyone at work noticed this change and kept asking if he was okay. He _was_ …sort of.

Even if he told anyone, nobody would believe him. It sounded ridiculous, no matter how he phrased it. The worst was keeping it from Fukuda and Kawahara. They were his best friends, but ‘ _Yeah, Akashi Seijuro slept with me and now we’re kind of friends with benefits while he’s planning his wedding’_ didn’t entirely cover it. He wished he could talk to _someone_ about it— _anyone_ …but he knew nobody would understand. Not really.

Until he got a call from the one person who knew him better than anybody in the whole world: his mom. The moment he greeted her, she knew something was wrong. He was _not_ going to talk about this over the phone, so he asked her to come to his place.

She was there within half an hour. “What is it, baby?” she asked, pulling him into a hug right away.

“L-let’s go sit down, this…won’t be easy for either of us,” he said. His hands were already shaking as he led his mother to the couch, tea already waiting.

His mother had always been the most understanding person he knew. She never blabbed his secrets and always told him exactly how she felt, even if it wasn’t what he _wanted_ to hear. The best thing was that she also offered solutions. Realistically, he knew she couldn’t magically fix this situation, but she’d at least listen and make it easier.

“Mom, I’m…” he had no idea where to start. How much detail should he go into? Should he tell her everything or keep it vague or—

“Baby, if you tell me you’re pregnant, I’ll still love you,” she said, taking his hands.

“Mom! I’m a guy!” he grumbled.

“I know! Chin up, Kouki! There’s nothing you can’t tell me! Relax. Start at the beginning. What happened?”

Taking a deep breath, he blurted, “I’m the other man.” That was basically just word vomit. He’d had no control over that.

Narrowing her eyes, his mother said, “Okay, I know my baby, and you wouldn’t just hop into that, so…there’s definitely a story here.”

“Okay…so…a few months ago, while I was sitting at the bus stop…I found a phone.” His mom nodded, so he swallowed thickly and continued. “I…knew someone in the background picture, so I found their name and I called them.” There was no way he’d tell his mom _who_ he’d slept with. She’d probably smack him upside the head for that. “So I went to return the phone and…I ended up,” his voice dropping into a squeak, he stuttered, “S-sleeping with him.”

“Did you know this person? Were you safe?”

“Oh my god, mom, yes! I met him in high school and yes we were safe.” His face was on fire. Sure, they had a close relationship, but he’d never discussed his sex life with his mom. Ever. (Not like there was much to discuss on the topic, but still, he liked that part of his life to remain private.)

“And he’s taken.” He nodded in response. “Is he at least gay?”

“Yeah, he’s gay, but…his fiancée doesn’t know that.”

“Oh,” his mom said, “Okay, go on.”

Sighing, he spilled the rest of his tale. He never mentioned any names, but he told her everything. About Akashi’s dad, about Akashi coming to vent to him, about their occasional rolls in the hay (though he kept the details of that to himself), and about his friends from work noticing a change in him and asking questions he didn’t want to answer. He finished with a defeated shrug, tears stinging his eyes, “I don’t know what to do.”

Squeezing his hands, his mom sighed, “I wish I had an easy answer for you, Kouki, but I don’t think one exists here.”

Giving her a desperate look, he grumbled, “But I can’t just go on like this!”

“Do you love him?”

He froze. All this time and he really hadn’t considered that. He knew he cared for Akashi. He wanted the redhead to be happy, preferably _with_ him, but…

“Let me rephrase. Can you imagine your life without him?”

He couldn’t. That stung. It was stupid. He shouldn’t feel that way about someone he clearly had no future with, but he could not imagine just ending whatever he had going on with Akashi. He shook his head tentatively, “I don’t…I don’t want to let him go.”

Taking his face in her hands, his mom said, “Then you need to talk to him about this. Tell him how you feel and if he feels the same, the two of you can work out a solution together. If he doesn’t…you’ll need to let him go.”

“But if I ask him to cancel the wedding, he’ll just tell me he can’t! His dad’s got him brainwashed that he needs to go through with this insane idea and no matter what I say, he won’t change his mind! Besides, he’s already dealing with enough shit, I can’t go throwing my emotional baggage on top of it all!”

“And why not?! He’s dumping all of his emotional baggage on you, why can’t you make him carry a bit of what he’s throwing on your head!” she said, dropping her hands to his shoulders.

“Mom, the stakes he’s dealing with are much higher than my little broken heart. I can’t give him anything else to worry about. This is the one place he can just open up and—“

“Kouki,” she cut him off sharply. “If he deserves your heart, he’ll at least hear you out. And if he doesn’t want to, then you tell him it won’t work. I don’t want you in a toxic relationship,” she squeezed his shoulders.

His tears spilled over and he nodded, “Okay.”  He wasn’t sure he could even bring himself to broach this subject with Akashi, but he’d try. She was right. If Akashi wasn’t willing to make it work, then it couldn’t.

“Come here,” she pulled him into her arms and said, “My show’ll be on in a few minutes, so you cry your heart out and I’ll stay as long as you need me to.”

Sniffling, he laughed and reached for the remote, “Here, mom.”

“Thank you, baby,” she said, running her hand through his hair comfortingly.

“Thank _you,”_ he mumbled, shutting his eyes and focusing on the feeling of her warmth and her deep rhythmic breathing.

 

 

One week. That was all the time he had left. One week. One very _very_ busy week. Akashi didn’t want to think about it. In a week’s time, he’d be getting married. He hadn’t spoken with his fiancée in a few days, he’d avoided all of his friends, and he hadn’t had time to visit Furihata in way too long and he was getting restless for the brunet’s comforting presence.

But, one day and he’d be able to see his only current source of happiness. This wedding would be the death of him. Even in his demanding career, he’d never been more stressed out by anything. Every day seemed to both drag and happen much too quickly at the same time.

The worst thing was that people noticed. Of course they did, it was obvious. He wasn’t sleeping well, he kept forgetting to eat, he had almost constant migraines, and every time the wedding was mentioned, his stomach would tighten and he’d begin shaking from anxiety. Akashi wished he could go back to high school, where he had all the confidence in the world and then some. The world had seemed to be laid out before him and he could do anything.

So how had he lost so much? He was no longer confident in anything he did—besides work matters, because even stressed, he _was_ Akashi Seijuro—and people were beginning to question him. Thankfully the media hadn’t caught on yet, because that was something he did _not_ want to deal with.

Rubbing his temples, he sat at his desk and contemplated whether he could just go home early. That was basically unheard of, but the pounding migraine he had was making it difficult to see anything and he couldn’t focus if his life depended on it. He just wanted to curl up, sleep, then go see Furihata and forget the rest of the world existed.

 

 

He knocked on Furihata’s door eagerly, happier than he’d been since the last time he’d laid eyes on the brunet. When the door opened, though, his great mood instantly shifted. The look on Furihata’s face wasn’t a happy one. It made Akashi’s stomach clench and turn and he felt dread settle over him like a wet blanket.

“Sei…w-we need to talk,” Furihata said, letting him through.

His body led him into the apartment and went through the motions while his brain screamed an even more feral banshee shriek than he’d produced on the night they met. This was it. Of course Furihata couldn’t _actually_ want to continue this ridiculous arrangement. Still, as he sat down on the couch, he had a difficult time remembering how to breathe. His migraine throbbed so hard in his skull that he thought his head might just blow up. Why was _everything_ falling apart?

“Are…are you okay?” Furihata asked.

“Yeah, just…headache,” Akashi dismissed.

“Do you want something for it? Or…?”

“I already took something,” he said, trying for a reassuring smile. Not that the medication he took had actually lessened his migraines on any other day.

The silence grew between them until Furihata cleared his throat and began. “Sei…I know this whole situation is difficult for you and I shouldn’t be giving you any more stress, but…” shifting awkwardly, Furihata looked away and said, “I need to know where you see this going.”

Akashi blinked slowly, trying to make sense of what the brunet meant, “I don’t understand.”

Drawing his arms around himself, Furihata bit his lip and tried his best not to get emotional. This was more difficult than he’d imagined. He’d done so much soul-searching and he’d even practiced all of this about a hundred times, but that didn’t make the knots in his stomach easier to ignore. “Sei…you’re getting married in a week and…I need to know where this thing between us is headed…” tears pooling in his eyes, Furihata shut them and said shakily, “…because I can’t see our relationship past your marriage.”

Akashi unsteadily put a hand on the brunet’s shoulder and asked, “W-what do you mean?”

“I can’t sleep with a married man, Sei!” Furihata said, frustration sending his tears flowing down his cheeks.

Cautiously, Akashi said, “Kouki, you knew I’d be getting married from the beginning.”

“That doesn’t make it easier!”

“My marriage is political, there’s _nothing_ between me and Estelle. I don’t see why we can’t continue seeing each other once I’m married.” Akashi could not believe he was maintaining his calm so well. Inside, he was crumbling. This was it. The last good thing in his life was leaving him.

“Sei, I’m sorry, but I can’t…” wiping his tears, Furihata turned away and shook his head, “I can’t do this—for the both of us, it’s better that we stop.” More tears streamed down his face and he gave up on trying to wipe them away. He’d hoped that maybe Akashi would get mad and storm off so he wouldn’t have to face the redhead, but no, Akashi was glued to the couch, hand still on Furihata’s shoulder.

Shaking, Akashi swallowed thickly. “W-we can make this work! Let’s talk things out, okay? I can’t lose you!” Voice cracking, Akashi whispered, “Kouki, please.” The brunet shook his head and Akashi’s world seemed to entirely collapse. His migraine pounded so hard in his head as his mind spun. His chest felt as though it had frozen over completely. His already shaky breathing became labored and erratic. He broke into tears and dropped his forehead on Furihata’s shoulder, no longer sure if he could even support it. Fingers shakily reaching up to grasp the brunet’s sleeve, he found it in himself to murmur, “Please, please, please, Kouki, please don’t. Please, we can work this out. Kouki, don’t leave me, I love you.”

Furihata hadn’t thought it was possible to feel any worse about this, but those last three words sent him to a deeper level of despair. He wanted to let Akashi go for the redhead’s own good. It was the right thing to do…but in the days since he’d talked with his mom, he’d realized that yes, he loved Akashi. And because their love was dangerous, he _had_ to let go. If he didn’t do it, they would both spiral into a world of lies and deception. He didn’t want to live a lie.

But letting go was so much more painful than he’d imagined. With Akashi weeping on his shoulder, his own tears wetting his face, Furihata…felt like shit. He wasn’t even sure how to describe this feeling. It was like his own words had turned into ice picks and were stabbing at his heart. Every tear that left those gorgeous red eyes was another agonizing pang.

Furihata sat there, unmoving. If he embraced Akashi, he knew in the long run, they would both get hurt. If they stayed together and someone found out…Akashi’s entire career was at stake. Furihata’s life would definitely take a turn for the horrible. He didn’t want to be known as the guy who Akashi Seijuro had an affair with. Sure, they could pretend to just be friends, but for how long? The entire situation went against every moral he’d been taught in his entire life and he was _not_ comfortable with throwing away everything he believed. First and foremost—cheating was _wrong_. No matter the situation.

“Sei…”

“No,” the redhead mumbled. “No, I can’t let you go—I won’t!”

“You have to,” he said firmly, trying to show resolve.

Raising his head, Akashi caught Furihata’s gaze. What the brunet was met with were two different colored eyes. Tears still flowing, pained expression putting a lump in his throat, Akashi said, “But we love you, Kouki, we can’t just let this happen!”

Guilt and pain and sorrow squeezed the breath from Furihata’s chest, but he managed to maintain eye contact and say, “L-love won’t change the fact that you’re getting married.”

“Then I’ll cancel the wedding!” Akashi said, sitting up straighter.

“You can’t and you know it. It’s not worth it!”

“ _You_ are worth it! Kouki, I would do anything for you, Kouki, _anything_! Please don’t do this!” Akashi’s words were becoming increasingly desperate. His voice rising, tears mindlessly streaming, Akashi held on to the brunet’s sleeve like his life depended on it. If he let go, he was scared he’d never be able to get this close again. He couldn’t handle that. Neither Akashi could.

Shutting his eyes, Furihata clenched his fists and with as much determination as he could, he said, “Sei, it’s over.”

Standing up, Akashi protested, “No, it—whoa…”

Opening his eyes, Furihata saw Akashi wobble on his feet. Unfocused mismatched eyes rolled back as the redhead ungracefully dropped to the ground. Jumping down to make sure Akashi wasn’t dead, Furihata yelled, “Oh my god! Sei! Sei, are you okay?!” _Stupid question, of course he isn’t!_ he thought to himself, shaking the passed out man on his floor.

 

 

“H-hello, uh…y-you probably don’t remember me, but…I went to Seirin and I know you’re a doctor, so…I have a question,” Furihata said, looking over at the redhead lying on his couch, sound asleep.

The green haired Miracle didn’t speak for a while before he asked cautiously, “What is it? And why do you have Akashi’s phone?”

“Uh…I just need to ask one quick thing, because the internet isn’t very clear on this so…what am I supposed to do if someone fainted?”

“Is this someone Akashi?”

“Uh…yeah.”

“What was the cause of him fainting?”

_Me,_ he thought bitterly. “Um…stress?”  

Without pause, Midorima said, “Lay him down and keep his legs elevated. Check his pulse and breathing, and if they are irregular, call an ambulance. Make sure to loosen any tight clothing.”

“I did all that, yeah,” Furihata said, mentally checking everything off as Midorima listed it.

“Have you tried waking him up?”

“Yeah, he just…opened his eyes for a moment and grumbled about something…t-then he said he was going to sleep and he passed out again.”

Sighing in exasperation, Midorima said, “Tell me where you are, I will come assess the situation myself.”

 

 

It took a few minutes, but eventually the two of them managed to get Akashi awake and making some sense. Then Midorima began bombarding the redhead with questions and Furihata was ordered to get Akashi a big glass of water.

He stayed out of their way, hovering just close enough to make sure Akashi was okay. He did catch Mirodima scolding the redhead to drink water and eat properly and get some sleep. As they talked, Akashi was told to sip his water and not move. This was so incredibly awkward. Every time he looked at Akashi, he’d get a stab of guilt and the redhead refused to look at him or even acknowledge his presence.

The tense atmosphere didn’t escape the green-haired Miracle’s notice, but he feigned ignorance. This was _not_ something he wanted to be a part of. He knew as a good friend, he’d need to ask about it, but this was definitely not the place. Not when the short mousy-looking guy kept throwing Akashi longing and pained glances. It also didn’t go unnoticed that both the men looked like they’d recently done a great deal of crying. Their eyes were puffy and red and emotions were something Midorima was _not_ good with, so he stuck with what he knew and fussed over Akashi’s poor health.

Furihata walked over and asked uncomfortably, “Do you need anything?” not sure how to act with Midorima there. Akashi tensed, jaw squared, bleary eyes focused (as much as they could) on a single spot across the room. Looking to Midorima, Furihata cleared his throat and asked, “Is…is he going to be okay?”

“If he continues this unhealthy behavior, he will surely miss the wedding,” the green haired Miracle said. Adjusting his glasses, Midorima said, “I’ll take him home.”

“R-right,” Furihata nodded, rubbing his arm awkwardly. This was definitely _not_ how he’d imagined this day going.

 

 

Getting Akashi to his car was a bit of a struggle. The redhead was unsteady on his feet, but he turned his nose up at the help the brunet offered. It took much longer than the green-haired Miracle wanted to get his oldest friend down to his inconspicuous car. Midorima made sure to keep a lookout for paparazzi, but nobody seemed to know where Akashi snuck off to to avoid his life.

“Is he the reason you’ve been avoiding us?” Midorima asked the only slightly coherent redhead.

Crossing his arms, Akashi mumbled, “I didn’t think you’d be interested in gossip.”

“It isn’t mere gossip if it affects your health,” Midorima pointed out.

“He’s not the one who’s affecting my health, Shintaro,” Akashi said stiffly, giving Midorima a half-hearted glare. The green haired Miracle knew there would be no better time to interrogate Akashi about this. He did wish someone better at this could be there, like Momoi, who could read any situation, but there he was, so he had to make do. He had to at least _try_ to be helpful.

Shifting uncomfortably in his seat, Midorima said awkwardly, “We’ve been friends for years, Akashi, you can tell me anything. You know I’d never disclose anything you didn’t want me to.”

“You have a brain, Shintarou, figure it out yourself,” Akashi said indignantly. “At least you’re not Kuroko or Momoi,” he sighed. “Now, drop me off at home, I’m taking the rest of the day off to sleep.” Sleep, shut himself in and bury himself in blankets, same thing.

“You’re going to eat a proper meal and drink lots of water before I leave you to rest.”

“You’re not my nanny.”

“No, but I am a doctor.”

Rolling his eyes like a teenager, Akashi grumbled something, then proceeded to shut his eyes and attempt to forget what just happened. He couldn’t believe this. Kouki had dumped him. The only good thing in his life was gone and he was so emotionally drained he couldn’t find it in himself to cry anymore. He was sure he’d cry again later, but for now, he resigned himself to a miserable and lonely life. There was nothing good left for him to hold on to, so he detached himself from the world and pretended it wasn’t a big deal.

 

 

 

Lying in bed, Furihata stared at the ceiling, trying to pull himself together. It had been hours since Akashi (and Midorima) left. As soon as the door had closed behind them, he’d flopped onto his bed and hadn’t moved since. He felt like he’d ripped his own heart in two and was slowly dying. Knowing that Akashi didn’t even want to look at him anymore hurt so much he contemplated just getting drunk and forgetting life for a while.

But no. He lay on his bed, sun setting, taking the life out of the room. Lip trembling as another bought of sadness and regret hit him head-on, he remembered the fun times the two of them had had in that very room. Not just the sex, though those were rather prominent memories, no, he remembered them just lying there side by side, lost in the illusion of a future spent together. They hadn’t actually known one another long, but they’d gotten closer in those few months than Furihata had ever been with any partner he’d ever had.

And now, knowing that he’d chased Akashi out of his life, he felt sick and empty. Nothing felt right. Not even the prospect of drowning his sorrows in chocolate and ice cream. He’d never understood romance films where there was a breakup of people who were still in love where the characters gave up on life. He thought they were dumb and unrealistic…but now that he himself had torn both of their hearts to shreds, he understood. He felt the physical pain of loss manifest itself into a gaping hole slowly swallowing up the remainder of his heart. He felt like at any given moment, he could throw up and it wouldn’t surprise him.

He was so stupid. Nobody in their right mind would ever even _think_ of breaking up with Akashi—no matter the reason. But it wasn’t like he could just take it back. Akashi didn’t want to see him. He’d fucked up, now he had to pay the consequences. There was nothing he wanted to do more than reverse time and instead of breaking Akashi’s heart, to tell the redhead he was in love with him and just continue the complicated but happy relationship they’d had.

“No. It’s better this way,” he whispered to himself. Without him there to complicate things, Akashi could get married and—

A sob broke through and the floodgates opened again. Who was he kidding?!? This was the worst thing he’d ever done. He’d rather be the happy whore who slept with a married man than the miserable loser who crushed someone’s heart…but it was too late. He’d already killed it. Akashi didn’t want to see him.

Furihata has been so sure that this was the right thing to do. The whole week leading up to the breakup, he’d been _so sure._ He’d convinced himself that his love for Akashi needed to end—that it couldn’t last past Akashi’s marriage. What a load of shit. He should have listened to Akashi. The marriage was purely political and he knew it. Instead of convincing himself to do what society would say is “the right thing”, he should have damned the consequences and held on to Akashi with everything he had.

He should have at the very least talked it out with someone before dropping something so big on Akashi right when he was at his most vulnerable. Furihata didn’t have too many regrets in life…but this was the kind of thing he could see himself never fully recovering from.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who left comments and kudos and just read this! You guys keep me writing. 
> 
> Next chapter should be up in two days. We're getting close to the end.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writing Midorima was so much fun, he might be appearing more in my fanfiction from now on.

Midorima shifted awkwardly in his seat. He wasn’t sure what was going on. All he knew was that Akashi’s fiancée wanted to talk with the whole Generation of Miracles. So here he was, sitting in her apartment with the rest of the Miracles.

Estelle herself was—as he always saw her—put together and proper. He imagined this is exactly how she looked during business meetings. Her straight black hair was meticulously brushed and her cold gray eyes scanned the people sitting around the room with an icy presence that differed greatly (at least to Midorima) from the powerful gaze Akashi usually gave people. This was a different type of authority that he was not used to. He felt like a child being scolded by a parent.

As snacks were brought out, Estelle dismissed the all the staff from the apartment and said, “Let me get straight to the point. I know at least one of you must know about Seijuro’s lover. I need to contact her to work out whatever went wrong in their relationship, because Seijuro has not responded to any of my calls or emails and he refuses to let me into his apartment.”

Midorima froze. Wait. It couldn’t be…but it made sense…Akashi’s depression had begun right when Midorima had picked him up from the brown-haired man’s apartment. But…could it really be?

“What lover?” Aomine scoffed indignantly, shoving finger sandwiches into his face.

“I expected that not all of you knew, but someone here has to. I need to contact this woman and make her work through everything with Seijuro.”

“Well…” Kise spoke up.

“Wait, Akashi seriously has a secret lover?!” Aomine said, almost choking on the sandwiches.

“I don’t know who it is, but I did help him cover up a hickey. He made me swear not to tell, but…” Kise shrugged.

“Ki-chan, you could have told _me_ ,” Momoi said.

Kise shook his head, “He’d have killed me.”

That Akashi would have. If Midorima was right and Akashi’s lover was the mousy little man, then he was sure the redhead would rather that remain a secret. Especially with his strict and obsessively traditional father, who would probably balk at the idea of his son being gay.

“Let us get back on point here,” Estelle said, rolling her eyes as she sipped tea from china that was probably worth more than Midorima’s life. “Look, we’re getting married in a few days and with the state that he’s in, I don’t see that happening. This marriage is important for both of our careers and I will not let it fall through. If that means reconciling him and his lover, then I will do it. If none of you know anything, I will hire a private investigator to track this woman down.”

Midorima fidgeted and fixed his glasses. If Estelle hired a PI and they found out that Akashi was seeing a man…no good would come of it. He needed to come clean for Akashi’s sake. “I…believe I might know who this person is. I cannot be certain, but—“

“Midorimacchi, what?! Seriously?!” Kise gaped.

“I said I’m not certain!” Midorima defended. And he couldn’t be. He’d only witnessed one tense encounter, as a man of science, that was simply not enough data to draw a conclusion.

“Then if Mido-chin can help, I’m leaving,” Murasakibara said, getting up, mumbling about sweets and “Muro-chin.”

Estelle sighed, “Fine. I will show you out.”

The two of them walked away and Midorima turned to Kuroko, who was thankfully sitting next to him, “Kuroko, I believe you know this person. They went to Seirin.”

“That doesn’t mean he knew everyone at the school,” Aomine commented.

Midorima fixed his glasses again, just to have something to do. “Let me rephrase, this is a person I _know_ you at least knew,” Midorima said, still speaking just to Kuroko. This was incredibly awkward for him. Over the days, he’d gone to check in on Akashi multiple times a day, just to make sure the redhead was still living, and the bits and pieces he got through Akashi’s crying and angry mumbling pointed to the person he’d met just days ago. There was no conclusive proof, but it was worth a shot.

Kuroko looked up at him with his emotionless eyes and asked, “Brown hair, big eyes, a bit awkward, right?”

“Oh good, so you know,” Midorima sighed, relieved that he wasn’t the only one who knew.

“Not until just now,” Kuroko nodded. “If that is the case, then at least we know where to find Akashi-kun’s lover.”

“But who is it?!” Kise bounced.

“Midorima-kun, we should go talk to Akashi-kun about this.”

“He’s instructed the doorman not to let anyone but me into his apartment.”

“Then you go talk to him and I will go talk to the other party,” Kuroko nodded, getting up.

Well that made things much easier. Midorima nodded, leaving the other Miracles dumbfounded. At least he’d been planning to go to Akashi’s apartment after this anyway, so it didn’t mess with his schedule at all. That he could do. What he wasn’t so sure of was if he could get Akashi to actually open up…but he needed to try.

On their way out, Estelle raised an eyebrow, “And what do you two plan to do?”

With his ever-calm expression, Kuroko said, “We are going to help Akashi-kun. Excuse us.”

Midorima just nodded.

Estelle heaved an exasperated sigh, “Fine, but I’m only giving you a day. After that, I will be forced to act.”

Kuroko ignored her, walking out of the apartment with a bit more determination. Midorima, awkward as always, just nodded to her and walked out after the shadow, hoping that Kuroko had a plan, because he was completely lost.

 

 

Bracing himself, Midorima stepped out of the elevator to face what was Akashi’s apartment. Unlike the nice and clean place this apartment had once been, it was now the equivalent of what he imagined Aomine’s room to be. There were clothes strewn about the place, half empty plates of food and glasses of water. Akashi had let his housekeeper go on the day Midorima had dragged him from the brunet’s apartment.

Walking into the redhead’s room, he found Akashi bundled up in blankets on the floor, eyes puffy and red and staring ahead blankly. This had been the same place he usually found the redhead upon his visits. “Oi, Akashi, get up, it’s time for you to eat.”

“I’m not a _pet,”_ Akashi retorted petulantly. Midorima found him insufferable in this state, but he needed to push through this and at least find out what was wrong. Because no matter what Akashi said, he was so far past fine it wasn’t even worth lying about anymore.

“If you insist on acting like one, I will treat you like one. Come,” he said, taking the blanket and pulling it off of the redhead. Akashi shivered as the cold air of the apartment hit his skin. He hadn’t felt up to it to get up and turn the heating on.

Getting up slowly, Akashi threw the comforter over his shoulders and trudged ahead of Midorima into the kitchen. He sat himself down at the island and rested his head in his hands.

The green haired Miracle sighed and steeled himself for more sulky Akashi. He’d gotten at least a little used to it over the days, but now he had to prod. Something had clearly happened with the brunet and Akashi’s state was getting out of hand.

Midorima got busy pulling together some sort of food. He was no chef, but he’d watched and helped Takao enough to know how to cook a few easy dishes. He couldn’t promise that the food was good, but Akashi hadn’t complained so far. As he got to cooking, he said, “You need to talk about what is wrong.”

“No I don’t.”

“This isn’t just about your health anymore, this is affecting everything in your life. You haven’t gone into work in days, pretending you’re sick will only last so long. Talking it out might help,” he suggested, eyes focused on the task ahead of him.

“So what, _you_ can give me advice?” Akashi huffed.

“I can at least offer an objective view. Besides, talking about things is a good way to begin getting over—“

“I don’t _want_ to get over it!” Akashi snapped. Just by the tone of voice, Midorima could tell this wasn’t the Akashi with two red eyes. At least over the years, the Other-Akashi had mellowed out, so Midorima wasn’t concerned about possibly being murdered.

“You sound like a child,” Midorima said, giving Akashi a condescending look, noting that he was right about which Akashi he was now talking to. “Look, I know this is unlike either of us, but you need to open up. And as you said, I have eyes, I know you were close with that brunet, you could at least tell me what happened.”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

“It might help,” Midorima said, getting back to the cooking.

“It won’t. Drop it.”

 

 

The incessant knocking would not stop. Furihata would have been grateful to have such caring friends at any part of his life except this one. Trudging towards the door, he grumbled, “For the last time, you guys, I’m fine! Will you stop—“Throwing the door open, he jumped. That slight hesitation was enough to give the phantom time to duck into his apartment. “K-Kuroko, w-w-what are you doing here?!”

Acting as though nothing was wrong, the emotionless man took his shoes off and said, “We need to talk.”

_No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!_ Furihata was not ready for this. Kuroko would ask about Akashi and he couldn’t just—

“Whatever happened between you and Akashi-kun…as both of your friend, I would like if it did not stay unresolved.”

Cringing, Furihata mumbled, “But it _was_ resolved.” Tilting his head in question, Kuroko gave him an unnervingly neutral look. Sighing, he knew he wouldn’t be able to lie to the shadow, so he said, “Let’s sit down.” He didn’t _want_ to talk about it, he knew where he’d gone wrong, but maybe if he shared, he’d find out how Akashi was doing. He was worried. The gossip news channels said he was sick and doing work from home, but Furihata was sure Akashi had called off of work for the same reason he had; a broken heart…well, and all the stress and malnutrition piled on top.

He situated himself on his couch and Kuroko sat down next to him; face still that infuriating neutral expression. Furihata did his best not to start crying again. He’d cried more in the last few days than he had in his entire life combined. The worst part about this was that Kuroko was a mutual friend. He couldn’t just dodge Akashi’s name like he had when telling this to his mom. Kuroko—better than most people—knew the hardships Akashi faced in his daily life. He’d know exactly what a dick move Furihata had pulled. “Please tell me what is wrong,” Kuroko prompted.

Biting his lip, Furihata looked away and rubbed his arm…right where Akashi had held his shirt and begged for him not to go through with it. Shutting his eyes, he swallowed down the lump in his throat and tried his best to ignore the sharp ache in his chest. He began slowly. “I’m sure…if you’re here you at least know _something,_ so…”

“I understand that Midorima-kun knew about your affair.”

Dropping his head into his hands, Furihata grumbled, “Please don’t call it that—I feel shitty enough as it is!” He didn’t need a reminder of how stupidly complex everything about their relationship was.

“And what would you—“

“Look, I know I fucked up!” he said, tears breaking through. “I fucked up and he wouldn’t even look at me! I can’t—I want to fix this! Kuroko, help he fix this! I can’t—” Sobs took over the rest of that sentence.

Kuroko, calm as ever, said, “I can’t help you fix it if I don’t know what’s wrong.”

Weeping, Furihata cried, “I broke up with him! I thought it was for the best—he’s getting _married_ —b-but it wasn’t! It was the stupidest thing I’ve ever done! He needed me and I _broke up with him_! He hates me now…”

Kuroko placed a hand on his shoulder and said, “This can be fixed.”

“No, he won’t even look at me!” Furihata sobbed.

“Pull yourself together, we have somewhere to be,” Kuroko said, voice more determined now. Furihata wasn’t sure he even _could_ do that, but he wiped at his tears and nodded. He’d spent long enough in this sad rut. He couldn’t hide from the world forever. He needed to face Akashi and at least attempt some sort of reconciliation. And if Akashi didn’t want to ever look at him again, so be it. He at least needed to try.

 

 

Furihata could not believe he was doing this. How Kuroko had talked him into it was a mystery. Well…not quite. He _wanted_ to fix things with Akashi, but now that he was really approaching the moment, he felt lost. What could he even say?? “I’m sorry” didn’t quite cut it here.

“Furihata-kun, come along,” Kuroko said, snapping him from his thoughts.

He stumbled into the fancy elevator after the shadow and couldn’t help but draw the comparison to the first night he and Akashi met. That one night that had started it all. All the bliss and all the heartache.

He sort of wished the elevator would just break down. That would make things so much easier. If he died in an elevator, he wouldn’t have to face Akashi and maybe the redhead could have some sort of closure…but that was just his cowardice talking. He _needed_ to at least attempt to fix things. He was the one who fucked up, he was the one who needed to reach out.

The elevator door jolted him from his head. This was it. No turning back.

As the door slid open, time seemed to slow. His heart pounded so hard in his chest that it drowned out every noise around him. His eyes were drawn right to the bundle of blankets sitting at the kitchen counter with brilliant red hair peeking out the top. Slowly, Akashi turned his head and as their eyes met, Furihata could swear he saw that one gorgeous red eye fade into a golden orange as his face fell into a pained expression.

Kuroko not-so-subtly pushed him out of the elevator, getting time flowing again. He barely managed to stop himself from falling on his face as Akashi in one fluid and graceful motion, got up and turned away from him, “W-wait, Sei!”

But Akashi didn’t pause as he walked to what Furihata remembered was his room. The door shut behind the bundle of blankets and Furihata stood there, eyes wide, heart pounding, not sure what to do. If Akashi really didn’t want to see or talk to him, there was nothing he could do about—

“Go after him,” Kuroko said, putting a hand on his shoulder.

Lip already trembling, Furihata shook his head. He couldn’t quite form words at the moment, but if he could, he would have told Kuroko that he was terrified of Akashi rejecting him. That was exactly what he’d done to the redhead and he couldn’t even imagine how much that would hurt. What he also couldn’t wrap his head around was how he could even begin articulating his apology. No words fit the situation.

Clearing his throat, Midorima got his and Kuroko’s attention. “I may not be good at this sort of thing, but I have known Akashi for a long time. He obviously cares for you. Right now, he needs you.”

“That’s right, Furihata-kun, nobody else has been able to get through to Akashi-kun. It is up to you,” Kuroko nodded solemnly.

What Furihata interpreted there was the both of them saying, “ _It’s your mess, you clean it up.”_ But could he??? He really wished his mom was here. She’d at least give him some words of wisdom. But no, here he was, with a man he loved who wouldn’t even look at him and two people who he couldn’t imagine being much help when dealing comfort.

His legs felt like lead as he dragged them forward a few steps. He wished he was more confident. And maybe not so incredibly conscious of how much of an asshole he was. He could imagine Kagami in this same situation just barging into the room and apologizing. But this wasn’t Kagami…and Akashi was definitely not Kuroko. The shadow seemed to know exactly what was on Kagami’s mind always, Furihata would need to explain himself to Akashi.

“Should we leave you two alone?” Midorima asked.

“N-no,” he responded much too quickly. He didn’t want Akashi to be alone, but if he couldn’t correct his mistake, he wanted to know that Akashi would at least have _someone_ there to turn to. Even if those ‘someone’s happened to be two of the most closed-off Miracles.

Head spinning, he took one step at a time down the hallway. Those few feet seemed like the most daunting task he had ever faced. No hellish training by Coach in high school could even compare with how grueling those slow steps down the hall were. One step after the other felt as though he was moving his legs through molasses with weights thrown onto his shoulders. He hadn’t even been this nervous facing off against Akashi in the Winter Cup in high school.

Getting to the door, he was _almost_ relieved that the walk was over. Almost. Leaning against the doorframe, he raised his hand to knock and froze. What if Akashi seriously didn’t want to talk to him? Was he just a nuisance to the redhead? Maybe Akashi had been working on moving on and here he was, barging into his life again as—

No! He couldn’t think like that.

Finally finding enough courage to knock, Furihata began what would inevitably be one of the most difficult conversations of his life.

The only response to his knock was a sniffle, so tentatively, he said, “Sei…” No response came, but he didn’t really expect one. “Sei, I know I have no right to ask this, but…I don’t want to say this through a door, so…could we speak face-to-face?”

Still no response, Furihata steeled himself to have this conversation with a door.

“Right, so…” Swallowing down the lump in his throat, he said, “If you want me to go and never come back, I will, but I just…I didn’t want to be the one who ruined your life. I thought that it would be better to end it early than to end up mixed up in what could be detrimental to your career. If we continued what we had, and we were found out, it—no…this…this isn’t…fuck, I’m screwing up again!”

He needed to get his thoughts together before he messed things up even more. Resting his forehead on the cool door, he took a few deep breaths.

“I just want you to know…how wrong I was. Everything I thought was stupid and it wasn’t what I wanted. I let what others would think push me to do something so incredibly dumb and I hurt you—hurt _us_ so much that I don’t even know if you _could_ forgive me for what I did and I don’t expect you to, so…I _really_ don’t want to say this through a door, but—“ his throat closed up, but he pushed through. He needed Akashi to know this. “Sei, I love you.”

Silence. Still no response. Not even a sniffle was heard.

Eyes stinging, he sighed, “You probably don’t believe me, but it’s true. Sure, we haven’t known one another long, but even these few days without you have been hell. Knowing that I’ve made the biggest mistake of my life, I…” Groaning internally, Furihata leaned against the door and put his head in his hands. “I’m really bad with words and I don’t think I’ve even begun to cover how I feel about you and this whole situation…I’ll…give both of us some time, okay?”

Cringing at this failure of a conversation, Furihata tried to walk back down the hall, but his knees failed. He slid to the ground and for what seemed like the millionth time, he broke down crying.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cliffhanger! Will Sei accept Kouki's apology??
> 
> Next chapter in two days c:
> 
> Thank you all for reading and commenting!


	6. Chapter 6

_‘Don’t do it,’_ his brother warned. ‘ _He hurt us once, he can do it again.’_

_‘But he wouldn’t,’_ he maintained.

_‘This isn’t something you just forgive someone for! We trusted him and he abandoned us! If you open that door—‘_

_‘Don’t pretend you don’t love him too,’_ Akashi retorted.

_‘I_ did _love him, before he ruined us. How many times do we have to be hurt before we realize it’s better to keep a safe distance from people? How many more Miracles or Kouki’s do we need before it finally gets through to_ you _that people can’t be trusted. The only ones we can trust are each other,’_ his brother said, pulling his hand back from the doorknob.

_‘It was different with the Miracles. Besides, we’re all friends now.’_

_‘Yeah, great friends, teaming up to bring us the source of our pain,’_ his brother said, seething in sarcasm.

_‘I’m doing this and you can’t stop me. If we let him go, all we’ll have is a wife who doesn’t love us. You might not be able to see it, but we_ need _him. Look what’s happened to us without him! The apartment is filthy, we’re being babied by Midorima of all people, and we haven’t done work in days! You don’t have to trust him, but I do.’_

_‘Fine. This is your mistake. I’ll be here waiting to clean up the pieces as always.’_

Nodding to himself, Akashi reached for the doorknob and turned it slowly. He hoped he was doing the right thing.

Of course he understood where Furihata had come from. He’d been worried about that too. He knew there would be people who would judge them—who’d make their lives as difficult as they could, his father being the first one in line. He knew it would be better to separate…but he hadn’t wanted to be the one to do it, figuring they’d spiral into the inevitable shit storm later. Together.

Knowing that hadn’t made it easier to hear those words from Furihata, but there he was, back again and Akashi was ready to throw himself into the storm and take whatever was coming. Just hearing the brunet’s voice calmed him. It shouldn’t have, but it did. Knowing that he had come back was…it was almost thrilling. Akashi had expected to never hear from the man again, but there he was, in his apartment, admitting that he’d been wrong. Akashi knew how difficult that was. He wasn’t wrong often, but admitting to it took courage.

…and maybe his brother was right. He might be blinded by his love for Furihata, but he didn’t care. He wanted to feel the comfort of those arms again—to have someone there who he could be completely open with. It was selfish, but it was what he wanted.

_‘At least make Tetsuya and Shintaro leave first. This is something much too private for them to witness. Besides, if all goes well, we might as well keep him here overnight,’_ his brother said, slowly taking his hand off of the doorknob.

_‘That was a rather quick change of mind,’_ he noted.

_‘Shut up, you know you want him to stay. Now call the others off.’_

Walking back to his bed, he grabbed his phone and called Kuroko. The shadow answered quickly with a, “Yes?”

“I need you and Midorima to leave,” he said without hesitation.

“What about Furihata-kun?” Kuroko asked.

“He needs to stay. And you can rest assured, no harm will come to him.”

“We are on our way,” Kuroko responded flatly.

Akashi hung up and listened for the elevator. Once he heard the door open and shut, he took a deep breath and nodded. _‘Right. Here we go.’_

_‘I hope you know what you’re doing. This could cause a lot of problems in our future,’_ his brother warned. He knew that, but he didn’t care. With Furihata at his side, he could deal with anything that came their way. He was confident of this and absolutely sure that letting the brunet go would come back to haunt him.

Swinging the door open, he strode into the hall. With every step he took, though, his confidence wavered. Was he strong enough to deal with the scandal this could cause? He could already see the headlines—the absolute hell the media would rain on him and Furihata if they were caught.

Pushing those thoughts out of his head, he walked into his living room to find the brunet sitting on the couch, arms drawn around himself, making him look small and fragile. Wide brown eyes locked onto his and the brunet’s mouth fell open as if to say something.

Before either of them could say anything, his brother took over and walked in front of the couch. “I want you to know that if you ever hurt my brother like that again, I will not forgive you.”

Gaining control back, he cleared his throat and said, “W-what my brother is trying to so graciously say is…” Sitting down on the couch next to the brunet—whose eyes were locked onto Akashi in shock—the redhead said, “Kouki I want you back.”

Furihata managed to croak out a, “S-Sei…” before he broke into tears. This Furihata had not seen coming. He thought this would be more difficult. He thought he’d have to convince Akashi to take him back, but there he was, forgiven. He wasn’t even sure what his emotions were doing. He was so happy and relieved that the tears just wouldn’t stop.

Pulling the brunet into his arms, Akashi could barely contain his own tears. He’d missed absolutely everything about Furihata. The feel of him in his arms, the slight musky scent he gave off, his perfect voice calling his name. It was all a lot to take in. First, though, he needed to get something else out there. “Kouki…we still need to discuss where we go from here. I don’t want to let you go, but…the wedding is in two days…” Even saying the word, he felt dread poking at his happy heart.

Furihata nodded, but couldn’t stop crying long enough to form words.

Akashi kissed his temple softly and said, “I love you, Kouki.”

Weeping, Furihata burrowed his head into the crook of Akashi’s neck and cried, “L-lo—t-too.”

Akashi let out a soft laugh and pulled his lover in tighter. He was shaking with emotion and couldn’t quite believe what was happening. He’d gotten his Kouki back. And he’d be damned if he let him go again.

 

 

It took the both of them a long time to pull themselves together. Akashi refused to let Furihata out of his arms, so they sat together as he began the dreaded conversation. “Kouki…I want to know what _you_ want for our future.”

Cuddling into him, Furihata sighed, “I don’t know. I do know that I want to stay with you—married or not.”

“So you…you wouldn’t mind if the wedding still takes place?” Akashi asked, hopeful. He still didn’t _want_ to get married, but if he got to keep Furihata with him, he didn’t care.

Furihata sat up so they could look at each other and said, “It isn’t ideal, and I can’t say it won’t bother me a little, but…as long as we’re together, it’ll be okay. We’ll make it work.”

 

 

Murasakibara answered his phone and asked, “What is it, Aka-chin?”

“I’m going to need the help of your boyfriend for something,” Akashi said softly, watching Furihata sleep on his bed, cuddled into a pillow, drooling in the morning sun.

“Wha? Aka-chin is gonna have to talk to Muro-chin about this.” With a slight pause, Akashi heard Murasakibara’s muffled call of, “Muro-chin, Aka-chin wants to speak to you.”

Himuro said something that Akashi couldn’t quite make out, then into the phone, said, “Hello?” with quite a bit of confusion.

“Himuro-san, this might be a bit strange, but I have a favor to ask of you.”

“Of course. Anything,” Himuro said, sounding a little concerned.

Akashi sent a soft smile to his lover before walking from the room and getting serious. This would not be an easy feat.

 

 

“You ready?” Akashi asked Furihata. The brunet nodded, not entirely sure. He still wasn’t a hundred percent certain that telling the Miracles any of this was a good idea, but he’d already agreed to it and they were on their way anyway, so it was too late to back out now.

It was the day before the wedding and instead of a bachelor party, Akashi wanted to introduce his friends to his lover. Furihata didn’t know where this idea had even come from, but if that was what Akashi wanted to do before his wedding, it was his choice. Besides, Akashi had said it was better for them to meet Furihata and be up-front about everything. All the Miracles were gay anyway, so it wasn’t like they’d have a problem with it.

Still, as the elevator door opened, he trembled like a scared puppy. He was holding on to Akashi’s arm for support, not sure what else to do. At least the first ones to show up were Midorima and Kuroko…along with Takao and Kagami. Furihata didn’t really know Takao, but he was sure Kagami would be shocked at this.

And he was right. As the occupants of the elevator walked into the apartment (which had been thoroughly cleaned the day before by the two of them together) Kagami’s eyes fell on him as his face fell into confusion. “Wait…Furi? What are you doing here?”

“Um…” he looked to Akashi, who gave him an encouraging smile. Cheeks flushing, Furihata said, “We’re together.”

Kagami stood there, blank expression on his face, for what seemed like hours. It wasn’t until Takao jumped and clapped excitedly that the taller redhead managed to begin processing the information. Takao happily hopped over and hugged the two of them, “Yay! It’s so good to see you happy, Sei-chan!” The nickname was one he’d picked up from Reo-nee, but Akashi didn’t mind it.

“Thank you,” Akashi said, glancing over to Midorima. “Without your boyfriend, I believe this happiness would not exist.” Bowing to his friend, Akashi said, “Thank you. Without you and Kuroko, I would still be a mess.”

Blushing, Midorima fixed his glasses and grumbled, “I didn’t really do anything.”

Akashi moved on, naturally. “As you two have not been properly introduced, this is Furihata Kouki, the love of my life.”

At the form of address, Furihata’s cheeks exploded in an intense pink. “S-Sei,” he mumbled, drawing himself closer to Akashi and burying his face.

“How even—“ Kagami began, but wasn’t sure how to finish that sentence.

“W-we’ll tell you when everyone else gets here,” Furihata mumbled.

Before anyone else could say anything, the elevator opened to Kise, Aomine, Momoi, Murasakibara and Himuro. Momoi instantly bounced out of the elevator with a big smile on her face, “And who is this?” she asked, though Furihata got the feeling she already knew.

“Everyone, this is my lover, Furihata Kouki,” Akashi said as though he were talking about the weather. His calm, unfortunately, did not translate as both Kise and Momoi threw themselves at the couple with hugs and giddy squeals.

“Akashi-kun, he’s so cute!” Momoi commented, shaking Furihata’s hand and giving him another hug.

“Aominecchi, you owe me a massage!” Kise called, sticking his tongue out at the tanned man, who just rolled his eyes and mumbled something in response. “I totally called it,” Kise beamed.

“Ki-chan, that’s not very nice!” Momoi said, smacking his arm.

“But there was no way Akashicchi was the only straight Miracle!” Kise whined, rubbing his arm with a pout that disappeared almost as fast as it came.

“Aka-chin, he’s so little,” Murasakibara said, wandering closer and looking down at the two of them.

“We’re about the same height,” Akashi noted.

“But he’s littl _er,”_ the giant said, nodding to himself and naturally walking to the kitchen, where some snacks were laid out for the guests.

“So how did this even happen?” Aomine asked, still slightly in shock.

“Let’s go sit down,” Akashi said, leading the Miracles to his nice couches. He wasn’t nearly as nervous as he thought he would be. He wasn’t sure what he’d expected, but it wasn’t this level of acceptance. Still, he was sure that would change once he got to the part where the wedding was still taking place.

 

 

Akashi was right, naturally. The moment he mentioned that he was still getting married, the Miracles erupted in complaints and whines. Kise, with a horrified expression, jumped from the couch and shouted, “No!”

Kagami barked, “You can’t do that to Furi!”

“This is preposterous,” Midorima huffed.

“Akashi-kun, please don’t!” Momoi shouted, holding on to Aomine’s shoulder for support.

Furihata—finding bravery only by Akashi’s presence—said, “Guys, it’s okay, we talked this out.”

“This is so not okay!” Kise shrieked. “Furihatacchi, you _can’t_ be okay with this!”

Kissing Akashi’s hand, Furihata said, “As long as I can stay with Sei, I don’t care.”

“This is messed up,” Aomine shook his head.

“Didn’t think I’d ever agree with Ahomine, but…this is…wrong,” Kagami said.

“What about your fiancée?” Himuro asked.

“She has her own lover to keep her company,” Akashi shrugged. “Now, I think we should all try to celebrate this time we have together. After tomorrow, I will have a lot of work to catch up on.”

The Miracles weren’t exactly thrilled by that, but Takao, seeing as this was only going to get more awkward unless he intervened, hopped to his feet and said, “Sei-chan is right! Let’s celebrate the time we have together! I’ll grab the booze!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter tomorrow! 
> 
> (sorry I'm updating this late, it's been a busy day)


	7. Chapter 7

Akashi was slightly in shock still. This was happening.

He stood at the end of the long walkway next to the line of nicely dressed Miracles and the minister. Estelle had insisted on a big Western-style wedding. He thought it was too much, but he did have to give her props for pulling together something so big in so little time. He tried to appreciate the beauty of the flower arrangements and the various decorations, but the only thing pulling his eyes was Furihata, wearing one of Akashi’s nicer suits, since he hadn’t had time to rent one.

The brunet looked stunning, even if he fidgeted a lot. The suit was noticeably too big, and that just made Akashi more proud somehow. It was so cute to have his Kouki sitting there in the front next to Himuro in his suit. The dark of the suit with the red tie just…it put a smile on Akashi’s face…which was good, because without Furihata, he couldn’t imagine smiling on this occasion.

The worst thing about all of this was that his father was present. The man sat there, staring his son down, _daring_ Akashi to disobey. He complicated things a little, but Akashi was confident he could do this.

Music began playing and the large door at the end of the hall opened to reveal Estelle in a nice form fitting white dress. It somehow still managed to look like she was walking into a business meeting to Akashi. The dress was surprisingly plain. It was like any other business-dress he’d seen, but longer and with a flare at the bottom. The woman herself looked none too pleased. Her face was her usual business-neutral and Akashi hadn’t expected anything else.

She walked with grace, but her steps didn’t quite match the song. That slightly annoyed Akashi. He tapped his toe to the steps she _should_ have been taking, but she didn’t seem to notice, so he let it go. It still bothered him, but it didn’t really matter. Still, he could _hear_ his piano instructor scolding him for not holding a beat when he was young.

As Estelle made it to him, he took her arm and whispered, “Apologies, but this wedding—“

“I OBJECT!”

Startled, Akashi turned with the rest of the room to look at who had shouted that. His eyes passed Furihata, but it hadn’t been the brunet. When his gaze fell onto the person…he had no idea who this was. Some tall (relative to normal people, not the GoM) blond man was standing up, determination on his face. He was something straight out of a storybook—tall, blond, handsome, chiseled jaw…but…what??

Estelle seemed to know him, though. Eyes wide, face in shock (more expression than Akashi had seen from her _ever_ ) she launched into French. Akashi nodded to himself. So this was her lover, it seemed. Akashi wasn’t any good at French, but he knew enough to pick out bits and pieces. He got the basic gist, at least. This handsome storybook-hero Frenchman wasn’t going to let the wedding happen.

With the Frenchman’s long-winded declaration of some sort, Estelle’s family gasped and ‘ooh’d and ‘aah’d and Akashi just looked down the line of Miracles and shrugged. He had planned to stop the wedding himself, placing Himuro next to Furihata to stop the brunet from doing anything stupid…it seemed his plan wasn’t needed. Still, he wanted to make his own announcement, but he waited patiently.

The Frenchman ran up to Estelle, picked her up in his arms, and ran off back down the aisle. Akashi watched, not even sure if this was real. It certainly seemed like some strange dream, but…there he was, his not-so-bride-to-be carried off by the most stereotypical movie scenario. It could only have been _more_ stereotypical if the Frenchman had ridden in on a white horse and happened to be a prince of some sort.

What drew Akashi back to the real world was his father moving to stand up. Before he could, Akashi turned to the room and said, “Well, that was certainly something.” That got a small slightly nervous chuckle from the audience. “It seems this wedding would never have taken place anyway. I myself was going to stop it in its tracks,” that got a gasp from the audience.

“Sei,” he heard Furihata, but thankfully Himuro did his job and kept the brunet back.

“I would like to announce that though Estelle was a fine woman, I have no interest in women. My father pushed me to marry, even though he knew I was gay. Happily, this wedding was stopped before I myself needed to intervene, but I would still like everyone to know this. As Estelle, I too have someone I love. A man without whom I wouldn’t have the courage to speak to you today. I’m certain this will bring about many rumors and ridiculous headlines, but unless he himself wishes to be known, I will do everything in my power to keep him from the backlash I am sure to face for this.

“Now,” he continued, “The party is still paid for, so enjoy. I will most likely not be attending. This wedding has cost me a great deal of work. Please enjoy the celebration. Thank you for your time.” He bowed and walked out, pretending that had been easy.

As soon as he made it out of the hall, he ducked into the nearest bathroom and leaned against the wall for support. He did it. He had disobeyed his father on the most grand scale he could imagine. He was sure the stories were already being spun and come evening, everyone would know about this ridiculous situation. His knees were shaking, so were his hands…but he did it. He had come out, after _years_ of lying and skirting around the truth, he had done it.

The bathroom door burst open and the last person he wanted to see walked in. His father was visibly furious, but he kept his calm as he approached his son. Akashi swallowed, preparing for what was about to be their biggest fight to date…which was saying a lot, as they fought almost every time they met.

“Seijuro,” his father began, words curt, but sounding like the most threatening thing Akashi had ever heard, “You will march yourself back out there and retract your statement or—“

“Or what?” Akashi asked, surprising even himself. But…he _was_ on a roll, so…why not continue the streak?

“Or I will disown you,” his father responded, giving him a challenging look.

Akashi scoffed, crossing his arms defiantly (and maybe to hide the fact that his hands were shaking like a leaf). “I don’t need your money. I’m not a child. I have a successful company that you own no part of, I have friends who will stand with me through anything and most importantly, I have happiness with the man I love. Your money and your presence in my life are both unneeded and unwanted.”

“Consider yourself disowned,” his father hissed.

“Gladly,” he shot back.

Staring him down, his father said, “I had high hopes for you, Seijuro. You could have gone far. Now you’ll lose the business—“ the bathroom door began opening and his father whipped his head around and growled “Get out!” The door immediately shut again and those cold loveless eyes rested again on Akashi. “Your _kind_ will never be accepted here!”

“I rarely do such things, but _just_ to spite you, maybe I’ll become the head of gay rights in Japan. I will not stop until me and the love of my life are legally married here and you’ll watch it all on television and wish you had been able to see past your bank accounts to realize you’d lost the last of your family. If you ever speak to me again, it better be to apologize for being so closed-minded.”

Taking a step back, his father glared at him, “Then this is the last you will hear of me.”

As soon as his father turned, Akashi slumped against the wall and the full weight of what he’d just done dawned on him. The coming months would be a PR _nightmare_ and he was sure his father would stir up trouble. He felt sick, but he was frozen in place. Just breathing was almost too much motion for him. He felt dizzy, but oddly detached. He was free…but that seemed too good to be true. He was expecting to wake up at any second.

The door opened and Akashi couldn’t even get his head to turn to see who it was. It didn’t matter, as within seconds, he heard a very familiar, “Akashicchi!”

All of the Miracles poured in around him, led by Kise and Momoi, who instantly pulled Akashi into a tight hug. “I’m so happy for you, Akashi-kun!” Momoi giggled.

“Akashicchi, that was amazing!”

“And weird as fuck,” Aomine added.

“Sei!”

That sweet and familiar voice had him scrambling away from Momoi and Kise. The brunet looked about as shell-shocked as Akashi felt. Stumbling forward he reached for the wall to keep himself balanced, “Kouki, I’m sorry I sprung that on you all of a sudden, and now people will be after you trying to figure this out and—“

“Don’t apologize!” the brunet smiled, tears welling up in his eyes. He pulled Akashi into his arms and the redhead could not be happier. The sudden warmth and the familiar feel of Furihata’s embrace lifted his anxieties. He could deal with whatever shit was thrown at them if he had Furihata with him. “I wish you’d have told me, but…I can’t be mad at you.”

Breaking away from their embrace just far enough to take that perfect face in his hands, Akashi said, “I swear I’ll do everything I can to keep them from you and—“

Furihata shook his head, “No…Sei…I think…” Smiling a soft smile, the brunet took a deep breath and said, “I think we have a reception to go to.”

 

 

“Are you ready for this?” Akashi asked, eyes flowing over the sea of reporters and paparazzi outside the reception venue.

“There’s his car!” someone from the sea of people shouted, sending them into a frenzy.

“Y-yeah. It’s better we do this on our own terms,” Furihata nodded, resolute. Akashi could tell the man was terrified of the crowd outside…for good reason. His life was about to change. If they did this, nothing would ever be the same for them.

Akashi smiled at the prospect. Sure, they would have to face some backlash, but they wouldn’t have to hide their love, even if it was scrutinized. No more pretending. No more hiding. Still… “Kouki, if you have any doubts…There is no going back once that door is opened.”

Taking his hand, Furihata leaned over and gave him a peck on the cheek, “I know.”

Akashi signaled for the door of the car to be opened and the flashes of the cameras began flickering like a bad thunderstorm as the wall of shouted questions hit them like a tidal wave. They stepped out of the car and into the storm hand in hand, ignoring the reporters and the cameras.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!!! 
> 
> A happy ending just for Akashi's birthday c: Didn't want the cheesy ending, so I gave you a different cheesy ending X9
> 
> Thank you everyone who commented and left kudos and just read this and I say this a lot but I seriously mean it, you guys keep me writing! Love yooou~~

**Author's Note:**

> So this fic is technically finished, but I'm still polishing up the ending, so I'll upload a chapter at a time between today (FuriAka day) and Akashi's birthday (Dec 20th)....(hopefully, if things go well)


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